Mooring for airships



F; H. CLERGUE J MOORING FOR AIRSHIPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed May v 28, 1928 INVENTOR 3 c. TOR aparec ws I BY m ATTORNEYS March 25,.1930. F. H. CLERGUE ,7 3

' MOORING FOR AIRSHIPS Original Filed May 2a, 1928 2 sheets sheet 2 L7 'INVENTOR v l'R'AI/CIS J-[c-crma CLERGU! ATTORNEYS Patented Man 25, 11930 r r Fries T FRANCIS HECTOR CLER-GUE, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA MOORING FOR AIRSHIPS Original application filed May 28, 1928, serial No. 281,066.

, Divided and this application. filed April 4, 1929.

Serial No. 852,406. I

My invention relates to moorings for airshlps, and is intended for use primarlly in conjunction with mooring masts or like structures to which airships may be made fast and about which the craft is free to swing so that its nose will keep pointing into the wind. The object of my invention is'to provide a cradle structure or support movable (pref-- erably upon circular rails) about the mast or other point to which the aircraft is moored, so that the ship will be preserved from damage due to contact with the ground or to any wind force from any direction. In the preferred form of my invention, the cradle and rail trolleys prevent not only downward movement of the ship, but upward and side wise movement as well. The. present appli cation is a division of another application filed by me on Without desiring to restrictmyself to the specific details illustrated, I will now proceed to describe a satisfactory and preferred form of my invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a mooring and supporting arrangement embodying my invention; F ig. 2 is a Vertical section on the line 22 of Fig.

1; Fig.3 is a detail elevation of'a portion of the, circular-track along which the cradle is movable; and Fig. .4 isa vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. .3.

M designates a mooring mast of any well known'or approved construction, generally made with a rotating upper portion M to which the nose Y of the aircraft Y is adapted to be made fast, such portion M being swiveled to swing about the vertical axis of the mast. Concentrically with the :40 mast I provide one or morecradle and trolley tracks, the example illustrated showing an inner track T and an outer track T, the distance between the tracks being equal to the radius of the inner track'and one third of the length of the airship to be iside base flan es of an I-beam May 28,1928, Serial No.

of the beam 1,

being about moored. Thus, for an airship 600 feet long, the inner track T would be 200 feet from the mast M, while the outer track T would have a radius of 400 feet. But these circular tracks may be spaced apart any distances best suited to the framing of the airships structure.

The preferred track construction is as follows: At suitable intervals piers P of concrete or other suitable material are built in the ground G, and through such-piers eX-' tend vertical rods R on which are fitted clamps C adapted to'be forced down by nuts N into tight engagement with one of the outa, I formingone of the rails of the track. The other or inner base flange of said I-beam is adapted to be held down by a clamp O pivoted at G to a housing H secured to the pier P by tie rods and clamps C on every other pier. The clamp C is adapted .to be brought into active position by a wedge member W engaging a corresponding surface on said clamp and movable lengthwise on a rod A connected with the housing A nut or handwheel N, screwing on a threaded portion of said rod A, serves to hold or release the wedge or holding member W and the clamp G. In

order to facilitate removal and replacement the rod A, with the clamp mechanism W, N thereon, is mounted to swing on the housingH" about a horizontal axis A ranging lengthwise of the track, and

as the clamp proper C is movable about the 0 axis 0 (which is parallel'to A), the entireclamping mechanism may be swung aside into a recess P of the pier P, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The housing H isprovided-With a seat H in operative relation to the clamp C, against which seat H the wedge member W is adapted to abut in its operative position to prevent pivotal movement of the clamp G and to lock said rod AI against swinging movements on the pivot A: The 9 I prefer to'have clamps C on every pier, 65

beam I may then be removed readily, after loosening the clamp C. The pier and clamp T, and an inner cradle traveling on the track T. As these cradles are substantially alike, it

will suffice to describe one of them in detail.

The cradle comprises four trucks or trolleys D each having four upper rollers E and four lower rollers G rotatable about transverse horizontal'axes E and G respectively.

The upper flanges of the track beam I fit between the upper rollers E and the lower rollers G, while the frame or body of the trolley is of inverted U-shape and straddles the upper portion of the rail or beam I thus a division.

wardly, and

same track, which space the trolley is held against any substantial lateral movement as well as against any substantial upward or downward movement. The several trolleys belonging to the same cradle are connected rigidly by a suitable frame X, the central portion of which is preferably made with a suitable platform to accommodate a motor truck bringing supplies,

, mail,etc. for the airship, and on. said platform I would also locate the controls of the adjusting mechanism shown and described in the original application of which this is Of course the several trolleys would be set at an angle to each other (in plan view), corresponding to the curvature of the track on which they run.

T he lateral or outrigger portions X of the cradle frame X, which like the cradle frame,

are supported by over and underslung trolf mounted on said housing and arranged to eX- leys, are connected with the lower ends 0 steadying cables or stays V diverging upthe upper ends of these stays are connected with the hull at different levels.

t will be obvious that these cables or stays V should be detachable at least at one end, either atthe ship or at the cradle frame.

It will be noted'that the track rails project above the ground and are easily cleared of snow, mud, etc. At suitable points I would arrange level crossings Z,which would also enable supply trucks, mail trucks, etc. to

between the rails of the would be made wide enough (say, twelve feet) for trucks to travel readily between the rails ofthe same track Tor T. Inasmuch as the two cradles are independent 1 of each other, they will adjust reach the clear space themselves properlyto the respective poritions'of the airship.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a track comprising rail-forming I-beams, supports permanently fixed adjacent to said I-beams, clamps engaging the bases of said beams at one side, and clamps movably mounted on said supports and movable toward and from said bases, adapted to engage them on the opposite side, and locking devices movably mounted on said supports and adjustable relatively thereto to locksaid movable clamps in operative positions and to release the same.

2. In a device of the class described, a track comprising rail-forming I-beams, supports permanently fixed adjacent to said I- beams, clamps engaging the bases of said beams at one side, swinging clamps pivotally mounted on said supports and movable relatively thereto into and out of engagement with the other side of said bases, and means adjustably mounted on said supports for tightening or releasing said swinging clamps.

3. In a device of the class described, a track rail having a base, a support permanently fixed adjacent to said rail-base, a fastening clamp pivotally mounted on said support adapted to engage said base, and a movable wedge adjustably mounted on said support and adapted to fix said clamp in its operative position against pivotal movement, and adjustable to permit said clamp to be swung to an inoperative position relatively to said base.

4. A device for fastening track rails in place consisting of a stationary housing, a clamp pivotally mounted on said housing, and a wedge member adjustably mounted on said housing and movable into engagement with said clamp to lock it against pivotal movement on said housing.

5. A device for fastening track rails in place consisting of a stationary housing, a seat on said housing, a clamp pivotally mounted on said housing in operative relation to said seat, a threaded rod pivotally FRANCIS HECTOR OLERGUE. 

